The United Arab Emirates are top of Group A following a 10-0 victory against Malaysia thanks to four goals from Ahmed Khalil and an Ali Ahmed Mabkhout treble.

Kuwait crushed Myanmar 9-0 thanks in part to Bader Al Mutawa's treble and their Group G rivals South Korea hammered Laos 8-0, with Tottenham newcomer Son Heung-min hitting home three times.

Also scoring a hat-trick was Saudi Arabia's Mohammad Al Sahlawi in a 7-0 demolition of Timor Leste, which leaves them second in Group A behind the UAE.

Japan were less convincing in their 3-0 defeat of Cambodia and they are two points adrift of Group E leaders Syria, who overcame Singapore 1-0.

Nathan Burns scored his first international goal as Australia went top of Group B with a 5-0 thrashing of Bangladesh, while Iran put Guam to the sword 6-0, although they are still two points behind Group D leaders Oman.

Oman eased to a 3-1 win over Turkmenistan, Iraq opened their qualifying campaign by crushing Chinese Taipei 5-1, but China were held to a 0-0 draw by Hong Kong.

Elsewhere, Uzbekistan claimed a 1-0 triumph over 10-man Yemen, North Korea won in Bahrain by the same scoreline and Jordan and Kyrgyzstan played out a goalless stalemate.